No-Paint Neutral IKEA Duktig Play Kitchen Hack

by @mrstiffanyclaire

Take your IKEA Toy Kitchen from Average to Neutral-Luxe

This project started out by wanting to secure the Ikea kids kitchen sink so my daughter wouldn't keep pulling it out. Don't ask me why, it is just one of those things that really seems to annoy me.

I then was in my local K-Mart looking for something unrelated and came across some stick on tiles; now that is something I haven't come across before.

What could I use these for because they're too cool to just walk past?

Oh, the kitchen!

Cue spiral to full on kitchen hack.

Functionally, everything about this kitchen is great, so I didn't need to add/ take anything away.

The kids love that the stovetop lights up; this is the only toy in our house with a button/ that lights up so it really is a novelty to them and I know they'd be devastated if I took it away just for *aesthetics*.

I decided on the key things I wanted to change:

1. Secure sink so it couldn't be removed
2. Make stove top slightly less ugly
3. Add splashback with my fancy new couldn't-walk-past-without-buying stick on tiles
4. Change door handles
5. Change ugly plastic leg risers
6. Add knobs to make oven more oven like

Now, I know there are websites that offer all in one ikea hack kits, there are also some that sell individual hack components, but I am impatient and couldn't possibly wait for these to arrive in the mail, so I needed to be able to purchase everything in store and have it readily available (yes, I'm an impulsive person).

Cue Bunnings, seller of all things DIY. Yep, absolutely everything I've used is from either Bunnings or Kmart. If you don't have a Bunnings nearby, you can get some of the hardware from Amazon!

And the best part?

This whole HACK cost me under $100!

How to do it

It is easiest if you disassemble some parts of the kitchen; we separated the top hutch from the base, and removed the benchtop from the lower cabinetry.

Rail

1. Remove the grey metal rail by unscrewing the sides of the hutch enough for you to take it out
2. Lay it next to your piece of dowel and draw a line with a pencil on your dowel so you know what length to cut it
3. Cut the dowel (we used a circular saw) then place it back into the same spot the grey rail was
4. Attach hanging hooks that were on grey rail onto the new dowel rail
5. Tighten the screws in the hutch so the dowel stays in place

Undermount Sink and Stove

1. Remove bench top from the cabinetry
2. Unclip stove top from its place and remove sink
3. Coming from underneath the bench, place the sink and stove top where their assigned spots are; this is how they will be mounted. Ensure they line up ok.
4. Prop the bench up so that you can glue the sink and oven to the underside of the bench top, we just stacked toy blocks under each corner to get it to the height we needed it to be. Use your glue to glue just around the edge of the sink and carefully mount it into place. You'll need something to ensure it stays in place (again we just grabbed a small block and popped it under the sink to make sure it was held up against the bench top while the glue dried).
5. Repeat with stove top
6. Once the glue is dry, drill 6 screws around the perimeter of the stove top and sink from the underside up into the benchtop, just to ensure it holds. Ensure you are drilling from the underside up - If you get screws the same size as I did they will not protrude through the top of the benchtop.

Splashback

1. Measure and cut splashback board (this is the masonite whitecote). You'll want to cut it to the following dimensions (measure from two edges so you only have to make two cuts): 31.5cm HIGH x 68cm WIDE. Cut using Circular Saw (and appropriate PPE blah blah).
2. Once cut, check it fits on the back of the kitchen hutch, you don't want any overlap on the sides as otherwise it will be visible from the front.
3. Make additional cuts as required to ensure it fits properly otherwise you're good to continue
4. Attach the stick on tiles as per the packet instructions. I started from the bottom left hand side and worked my way across then up. It is easiest if you measure and cut it all first, so you don't start sticking and then realise you've laid it wrong. I used approx 2.5 sheets for the width (the half sheet being on the left hand side) and another sheet with cut into individual rows for the gap above. Ensure the top row you lay in a subway pattern to match the rest. Neatly cut off any excess tiles that overhang the board.
5. Attach the splashback to the back of the hutch by using 6 screws along the side and top edges directly into the timber of the hutch (or however many you feel it requires to feel securely attached). No screws along the bottom edge as this just rests in place on top of the kitchen bench.

Door Handles

1. Using a drill, unscrew the current handles and remove.
2. The screws in the Bunnings handles need to be cut to size. We checked how long they needed to be by placing them along the edge of the cupboard door to find the right width, from memory this was the smallest size on the assigned cutting line. We then cut with tin snips - this can be a bit tricky so be careful.
3. If using the just the original Bunnings handles, screw in place and you're done! Make sure they are screwed tightly so that they don't come loose and cause a choke hazard. I would recommend regularly checking the screws are tight due to the fact they would be a choke hazard if they came loose.
4. If you want lighter tan handles, cut the strips of faux leather to the exact same length as the Bunnings handles. I used some scissors to pierce holes in the new handles at the exact same spot of the Bunnings handles (placed the Bunnings handle on top of the new faux leather strips and poked my scissors through to create the holes); I then pushed the screws through to make the hole the right size and installed into the pre-drilled kitchen holes where the old handles used to be. NOTE: I needed the screws from the Bunnings handles to use with the Kmart DIY handle. If you have Chicago screws you may not need to use the bolts from the Bunnings handle and therefore don't need to purchase it.

Oven Knobs

1. Measure out where you want to position the knobs. Measuring from the left hand edge of the kitchen I drilled the holes centred at 8,16 and 24cm.
2. Use your drill to drill holes to insert the oven knob screws into
3. You'll need to use your tin snips/wire cutters to cut the knob screws to the correct length
4. Once holes are drilled and you've cut the screws to length you can screw the knobs in as tight as they'll go

Grey Leg Risers

1. I just removed these completely as without them it is a good height for my 1 year old and also fine for my 3.5 year old.

Reassemble kitchen as it was originally (per IKEA instructions) once all individual components have been completed and you're good to go!

Questions?

If I've forgotten anything or you simply have a question, please feel free to reach out to me on Instagram @mrstiffanyclaire, and I'll do my best to answer your question!